Concert Review: Perturbator at Emo’s, Austin. French synthwave master whips crowd into a frenzy.
Emo’s was packed this past Sunday, with a diverse crowd craving some dark, electronic, soundtrack inspired grooves. And the triple bill of Street Sects, Health and Perturbator were there to deliver in spades.
After two slamming sets by the opening acts, Perturbator (the alter-ego of French musician James Kent) took the stage, accompanied only by a drummer and seizure-inducing lighting. While it may have been a sparse aesthetic, it proved an overpowering experience.
Kicking off was Excess (the title track off his 2021 album Lustful Sacraments), a banger comprised of burrowing synth lines, post-punk guitar and barked chants (with Kent pulling triple duty). The title track followed, an eerie slab of neo-noir atmosphere, murmured vocals and ominous portent.
Indeed, Lustful Sacrament material made up the bulk of the set, from the warped sonics and feral groove of Death of The Soul, the cinematic The Other Place, the industrial stomper Messalina, Messalina, and Dethroned Under A Funeral Haze, with Kent going full Ian Curtis by way of Michael Gira, with a bellowing goth baritone that wafted over the crowd like hazy incense.
Kent also dove into his musical past, from the arcade game whiplash of Neo-Tokyo (off 2016’s The Uncanny Valley) , the John Carpenter meets Daft Punk jam Future Club (from 2014’s Dangerous Days) and the sinister slither of Tactical Precision Disarray off 2017’s New Model.
One of the biggest hightlist was Humans Are Such Easy Prey (also off Dangerous Days), a percolating, relentless, ominous ear worm peppered with Terminator soundbites and a manic, pulsating outro that sent the crowd into a moshing frenzy.
Moshing for an artist associated with a genre known more for atmospherics and dance beats might surprise some, but Kent’s days as a metal musician still factors into his sound, such as his recent 2022 collaboration with Cult of Luna frontman Johannes Persson. His aggressive, percussive take on the genre was witnessed by the doom metal structure of She Moves Like A Knife, which cut through the air like, well, er, a knife, and had the crowd rabid for more.
This dynamic approach likely makes him a bigger live draw than other musicians of his ilk, and why the venue was packed full of rapturous fans.
Kent saved a surprise for the final number with Body / Prison, a collaboration with Health (off that band’s 2020 Remix EP Disco 4). It proved a nice counterpoint for when Kent joined that band during their set, and brought the house down in fine fashion.
Ears rang, sweat dried, and smiles abounded as the lights went up and attendees filtered out. For an artist linked to occult imagery, he had cast an appropriate spell over the audience.
Perturbator Setlist:
-Intro
-Excess
-Lustful Sacraments
-Neo Tokyo
-Future Club
-Death of the Soul
-The Other Place
-She Moves Like A Knife
-Diabolus Ex Machina
-Weapons For Children
-Humans Are Such Easy Prey
-Messalina, Messalina
-Dethroned Under A Funeral Haze
-Tactical Precision Disarray
-Tainted Empire
– Body / Prison
